


Between Sorrow and Bliss

by blitzychan



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2019-05-04 08:33:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14589111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blitzychan/pseuds/blitzychan
Summary: It wasn't fair.But it was fate.





	Between Sorrow and Bliss

**Author's Note:**

> This is a mess and I am a mess.
> 
> My grandfather passed yesterday morning, and I wrote this fic during an emotional time, as a release. It's raw and unrefined, and it's very likely it'll read as such.
> 
> _Who decides, from where up high_  
>  I couldn't say I need more time  
> Oh grant that I can stay the night  
> Or one more day, inside this life

_Walk tall, my friends._

Those had been the last words Noctis had spoken to them. They knew they had a duty, an obligation to their King to rebuild his kingdom. He had sacrificed everything for the coming of the dawn, and he had been able to do so knowing that the future of his kingdom was in the capable hands of his three friends.

Gladio, shield of the king.  
Ignis, hand of the king.  
Prompto, soul of the king.

It wasn’t fair.

But it was fate.

* * *

It was funny. Prompto thought he would be an emotional mess when this time came. But now, standing before the throne where Noctis fulfilled a prophecy that predated the last King, the sword embedded in his chest, even the chair he sat slumped upon, Prompto could not find his tears. There was not a single drop of blood staining the glistening edge of Regis’s sword that pierced Noctis’s chest. Noct’s eyes were closed, and a small smile graced his delicate lips. The King finally looked to be at peace. It would have been easy to convince himself that Noctis was only sleeping.

Astrals, Noct had loved his sleep.

The painful pressure in his chest tightened, his throat clogged, and Prompto had to turn away from the sight.

An arm came to sling across his shoulders, and Prompto finally found his tears.

* * *

In the end, they decided Noct would prefer to be laid to rest in Tenebrae, his ashes scattered amongst the field of Sylleblossoms he and his beloved adored. The crowd had slowly dwindled away until it was only he, Ignis, and Prompto. Ignis and Prompto remained at his side in silence for hours, before they too left, and Gladio was standing alone.

A shield was never meant to outlive his King. That was the one lesson his father had drilled into his head: he was to protect his King to his last breath. Gladio hadn’t been there, and there had been no witnesses, but the Shield knew that his father had held true to that sacred vow among the Amicitias.

Would he be disgraced because he had failed?

Had he failed?

Gladio scoffed. Noctis, were he there now, would berate him for being so foolish. Noctis had entered the crystal a lost, grieving Prince. And he had returned to them resolute and stalwart, a King ready to face a destiny far too cruel.

He was proud of the man Noctis had come be become.

It didn’t make it hurt any less.

* * *

Ignis would have sacrificed anything, everything, if he could spare Noctis a fate he did not deserve. If the Astrals demanded the world burn in reciprocation for the Chosen’s life, Ignis would have burnt it himself. Eos wasn’t deserving of the love Noctis gave it.

But Noctis would not have wanted that.

It was a cruel fate, especially for one so young. But Noctis bore it, and he did it alone, because he was strong enough to do so. Ignis had never been more proud, nor more heartbroken for his dearest friend.

It would have been so easy to just give up, follow his King into eternal slumber, but Noctis would not have wanted that. He had given his life to provide a life for them, and Ignis would not so callously throw away Noct’s final gift.

He will begin the arduous task of building a world worthy of Noct’s love and sacrifice.

But not today. Today, he would grieve.


End file.
